The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision granting same-sex couples the right to marry in all of the U.S. states and unincorporated territories is another cause for celebration!  Immigration law treated married same-sex spouses just the same as different-sex spouses. This included the right for a U.S. citizen to petition for a same-sex fiancé(e) abroad, petition to adjust status for a same-sex spouse to obtain a marriage based green card, and also for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to petition for stepchildren created by a same-sex marriage.  However, prior to the ruling that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, a same-sex couple sometimes had to travel to another state or country to marry. That potential hardship has now been removed, and U.S. citizens or permanent residents seeking to petition for a same-sex spouse may marry anywhere in the U.S.

“We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite.”
                                     ~ Woodrow Wilson, 

                                         28th U.S. President

Immigration is not just a hot topic in the United States.  All around the world, countries struggle with the balancing act of meeting the needs of both citizens and immigrants.  In France earlier this month, government officials honored the heroic acts of 24-year-old Malian immigrant, Lassana Bathily.    Mr. Bathily is credited with saving many lives during a terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in January.  Four were killed during the horrific ordeal.

Bathily was working at the kosher store on January 9 when Islamic extremist Amedy Coulibaly carried out his assault.  Putting his own life at risk during the attack, Bathily helped customers by ushering them to safety, hidden in a back storage room.  He not only saved their lives, but was able to escape himself and aid French police to end the attack.  French Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve along with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, honored Bathily with a medal and also granted him French citizenship. Cazeneuve praised Bathily’s bravery in saving the customers, and noted that it was an “act of humanity [which] has become a symbol of an Islam of peace and tolerance.”   For his part, Bathily was humble about his actions and expressed his happiness at being granted dual citizenship.

U.S. immigration law now allows same sex couples to apply for marriage based green cards as well!  This is opportunity was made available after the United States Supreme Court’s ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutionally denying same-sex legally married couples Federal Benefits, including the ability to sponsor an individual’s spouse for a marriage-based green card.  Reformed immigration laws have been implemented since June 26, 2013.   All U.S. Federal Agencies have enacted laws regarding same-sex married couples’ immigration petitions, as overseen by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security.  If you need assistance in petitioning for your spouse, feel free to contact Your Immigration Angel for a free consultation!

The EB-5 visa offers foreign investors a chance to live in the United States and become U.S. citizens in exchange for providing $500,000 to $1 million in capital and creating at least 10 new jobs in the U.S. Although the cap for investor visa has never been reached, the State Department recently announced that the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program reached its cap of 10,000 visas for the 2014 year.  The EB-5 program sometimes raises concerns that it provides immigration privileges to wealthy investors and can be susceptible to fraud. However, a Brookings Institution analysis found that the EB-5 program has created 85,500 full-time jobs and brought $5 billion of investment monies over the 25 years that the program has been implemented.  Despite this good news, the program is not permanent and is set to expire in 2015 unless Congress renews it.

Two years after President Barack Obama announced his executive order for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which lets young people who were brought without immigration papers by their parents to the United States apply to stay for a certain period of time, education benefits are being made available.  The Dream US, a national organization with $32 million to help young people, announced that applications for scholarships up to $25,000 are being accepted from undocumented youth who will be first-time college students or who will transfer to a four-year university to finish a bachelor’s degree.  The scholarships – to which individuals can apply online through Sunday, Oct. 26 by 11:59 p.m. (Central Standard Time) – can be used to pay for college tuition, as well as books and fees. The scholarship amount depends on a young person’s financial need and the cost to attend a university or college.  Scholarship recipients need to be considered as in-state students, in terms of tuition, maintain a grade point average of 3.0, stay enrolled in a college or university that is a partner of TheDream.US and keep their DACA status.  TheDream.US has posted guideline information, as well an application link, FAQs and stories from scholarship recipients.